Senior Sarah Santamaria arrived at rehearsal as the fairies and mechanicals practiced their scenes. She watched as the actors jumped on each other, ripped one another off, and utilized physical interactions to lighten the mood of the play. Santamaria listened as Shakespeare’s lines were embedded with obscure jokes and old-fashioned humor.
OU University Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream to combat the effects of COVID-19 with a comedy, which will be open to viewers from Feb. 25 to March 6.
The play centers around several lovers and conflicts. One lover, Hermia, is played by senior Lanee Starr, who described the play as “lighthearted, fun, and entertaining.”
According to Starr, the play’s “over-the-top dramatics” creates a silly tone for viewers to enjoy.
“The process overall has been more open-minded,” Starr said. “The director, Judith Pender, she’s very open to any and all ideas.”
Judith Pender, Performance Area Coordinator of the Helmerich School of Drama, is directing Shakespeare’s play as part of the university’s educational mission to perform a Shakespeare play.
“We also take our audience into consideration,” Pender said. “What we think will make the audience happy right at this time, is a little humor in our lives. It’s a delightful crazy romp.”
Santamaria, who plays a traditionally male Lysander, said the comedy relied on physical interactions between characters.
“It’s really goofy and physical, and that’s the kind of comedy that I have a lot of fun with,” Santamaria said. “The physical elements that we’ve incorporated helped to aid the understanding of the play further than what the words are saying.”
Santamaria said the play was one of her favorite comedies by Shakespeare.
“There are definitely a lot of lighthearted and comedic elements to the show,” Santamaria said. “We’ve done a pretty good job of still trying to create this other world where these goofy things happen.”
According to Starr, the stage allowed for the actors to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.
“With the director’s style and how big the stage is, she always wants there to be space with us,” Starr said. “It just so happens that it also works with COVID.”
Sophomore PK Kaya, who plays Tom Snout, said the set was crucial to the storyline.
“The set has its own little character progression throughout the show,” Kaya said. “It starts out one way, and then it meshes a mold while the characters interact with it.”
While the set allowed the actors to socially distance during the performance, everybody in the cast still received the COVID-19 vaccine, Pender said.
“Being vaccinated is important to everybody in this profession,” Pender said. “It was something that everybody embraced completely.”
Kaya said the rehearsal process called for hard work and investment in order to create a production that contrasted the pandemic.
“Come see Midsummer not only because it’s a little escape, but because the lightheartedness speaks to something about what we’re all going through,” Kaya said. “We’re still working to put our vision out there and change our little corner of this world.”
